Reopened his recruitment. ElC can celebrate. Was hoping he'd wait until the next coach was announced but it seemed like a longshot to keep him. Will be interesting to see if this starts a wave of transfers/decommits resulting in us having 7 spots to fill this spring.
Nigel John
- Thread starter etowncoug
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Reopened his recruitment. ElC can celebrate. Was hoping he'd wait until the next coach was announced but it seemed like a longshot to keep him. Will be interesting to see if this starts a wave of transfers/decommits resulting in us having 7 spots to fill this spring.
Didn’t want to see John depart because I think he will become a good big down the line. Didn’t he sign or is that a rule now if the coach is fired the LOI is voided? Regardless I’m sure Chun/WSU would allow him out.
He also tweeted WSU is still his number one option. The uncertainty can't be fun for a high schooler. He's probably wise to keep his options open. If the next coach is able to show Nigel how he fits in his system, we should be able to keep him.
I am guessing but I don't know whether the incoming players will have much impact on the players already on the roster. It's probably more about whether the players on the team decide to stick together, get another opportunity, and can wait however long it takes to find the new coach.
I can celebrate? Now you are blaming me for Chun s decision? That was the first and not the last player to leave, Somehow you guys thought that firing Kent would cause the players to celebrate. if you look back at his recruitment you will see that Kent was one of the big reasons he choose WSU. There is a cost in firing coaches and it will continue.That was the first shot Chun took to the shorts.I wonder if Pollard will seek a graduate transfer? It is much better to receive a graduate degree from a different University than your undergraduate school. Pollard s decision will be based upon academics not basketball. I would say that they may be about 2-4 more deflections. One hopes that Elleby will not be one of them. But he is being recruited as well as Cannon .Buckle up folks it may be a rough ride
As far as I'm concerned.....we can lose the whole damned recruiting class....and the whole damned team and we'll be better off in a few years. That isn't a slight on the players at all. I'm just saying that it's obvious to everyone but you that WSU was never going to be truly relevant with Ernie Kent as coach.
I hope that we don't see massive defections and I hope that Nigel waits to see who we pick up....but sometimes you just have to rip the band-aid off and move on despite the momentary pain. I liked Ernie and was excited when he was hired, but only a dumbass looks at his performance at WSU and tries to defend it. From your comments in the past week, it's starting to look like you've decided to steal ED's crown away when it comes to defending bad coaches who got fired by WSU.
As far as the current team goes, I do believe that we have the talent to make it to the NIT in a couple years if they stick around for the next coach to build around (and we get a good coach). The bigger question is whether or not we can find a guy who will build a foundation where we can start seeing NCAA appearances in 4 or 5 years similar to what we are seeing with Leach.
Just wondering why it’s better to get you graduate degree from a different school you received your UD.
Likely won't happen, but he could still end up in Pullman if he
Not to worry, we're all used to it.
Glad Cougar
Not to worry, we're all used to it.
Glad Cougar
I think it’s a smart thing for the player to keep his options open. Let’s face it this kid is no game changer no matter where he ends up. El you praised the firing of June On the women’s side and the women’s program was in way better shape in every way. They lost some very key players due to the coaching change but don’t you feel they are better offf.
Not begging for kids to leave, but maybe deflections are a good thing for a new staff? Start fresh with your group of kids. No need to convince players to buy into your system. Your recruits have already bought what you are selling. Truth be told the roster this year had only two players I would be concerned with keeping - Franks (graduating) and Elleby. Cannon has big upside but could be another athletic player that never figures out how to harness that into being a top tier guy.
Everyone knew there would be players leaving and with many new coaches that is by their choice. Letting a kid know they are not going to get much time or don't fit the system. The real world is brutal and if you want to win at this level nice guys don't alway finish first. In EK's case he only finished above 10th in the league once. Don't fear change, embrace it.
This reminds of me of people freaking out about firing Wulff because we had like 20 verbal commits and didn't want to lose them. It's not like players were making it through the program Kent anyways. Franks was the only one, but even he declared last year to go the NBA. I remember El talking a lot of crap about Pollard's play this year, but now Chun is going to take it in the shorts because he's thinking of grad transferring? Please.
El is just hijacking threads to troll. There is no discourse, all he's doing is trying to troll every poster on this board. You can tell by the horrible grammar. It's all a show. Similar to PFTCommenter on Twitter. And I'm guilty for falling into his web.
El is just hijacking threads to troll. There is no discourse, all he's doing is trying to troll every poster on this board. You can tell by the horrible grammar. It's all a show. Similar to PFTCommenter on Twitter. And I'm guilty for falling into his web.
Not that I want to support ElC in his momentary delerium, but a lot of employers respect the potential hires who choose to go to different schools to ensure a more diverse experience. I don't think it's bad to get both degrees at the same school, but it's generally regarded as slightly better to diversify.
Exactly. We will probably have fewer transfers/decommits this year while changing coaches than in a typical EK cycle
What is being hijacked is your ability to just ignore him. Personally I am slightly fascinated why it is almost personal to him. Like Bone, Kent was given time to get things turned around in a pretty weak conference, and he didn't have the success.
What is most damning is what Franks said when they had that nice run in the middle of the season. The question is "what happened", and the answer was the team started to listen to the coach. Then they fell back into their rut of giving up uncontested layups.
Not being able to take care of the ball on offense was a lot bigger problem than shoddy defense in the teams coming unraveled down the stretch. Still a coaching issue, although kids just dont come into college with passing skills or understanding how to move off the ball anymore
If the cougs lose 3-4 more players then get used to a rough ride for 3-4 years. If they lose Elleby and the assistants than expect the Seattle door to be closed for a long time. They better hope they can retain Elleby. Chun has said that the change in coaching staffs "is different since they have a talented corps of returning players". That remains to be seen. Since they lose John ,perhaps Pollard and no big man recruits then the front court will be pitifully weak.There are consequences and perhaps the positives will outweigh the negatives but we shall soon see.
It's interesting but I actually have been surprised at least initially that most of the players are taking a wait-and-see approach. John has reopened but says WSU is still his #1 option and is waiting to see who is hired. Pollard says he wants to stay but it's depending on fit with the new coach. Murphy has said he's a Coug as long as the new coach wants him. Elleby hasn't said anything other than maybe indirectly in a cryptic tweet from Chance Moore. It doesn't mean any of them will end up playing for the new coach and sometimes in the end that's a good thing.
One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the APR. When Kent was hired we were in trouble with the APR and I believe a year away from losing a scholarship. Kent turned that around and I saw on one of the sites has graduated all the players that have stuck around. Even with the rampant transfers the APR hasn't been an issue during his tenure as coach. That might not attract another coach but at least it's not something that will take away from the job.
One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the APR. When Kent was hired we were in trouble with the APR and I believe a year away from losing a scholarship. Kent turned that around and I saw on one of the sites has graduated all the players that have stuck around. Even with the rampant transfers the APR hasn't been an issue during his tenure as coach. That might not attract another coach but at least it's not something that will take away from the job.
Agree the door isn't open and in general Seattle is fools gold. California has always been more important but now maybe the Midwest has started to open up? Pullman isn't going to carry the stigma it does for the west side of the state.
It will be great if any current players or recruits decide to stay, compete for a spot and represent our WSU. If they want to leave, so be it - don’t care to have any players here that don’t want to be here. Won’t lose any sleep over it, let’s rebuild the program. Worst possible case is we lose max of (4) more conference games next year.
How many players from the Seattle area were on the tournament teams from years past? I do not think Seattle recruiting should factor into this at all and I would bet that the next coach wins 4 or more Pac-12 games in a season in year 1 or 2, sight unseen.
Agreed on the fact that getting into Seattle isn't as big of deal as what many have said it is. Ellerby didn't open the door and quite frankly neither did Haskins. FYI I saw one of his former players at USC left, the Brooks kid and I didn't think he was good enough to be a Pac 12 player anyway? Point is people need to stop talking about getting into Seattle to get players, the reality is that's not going to turn the program around
Considering our somewhat recent "glory years" in b-ball, how many of those great kids came out of Seattle?
Considering our more recent "glory years" in football, how many of those great kids came out of Seattle?
F Seattle.
Considering our more recent "glory years" in football, how many of those great kids came out of Seattle?
F Seattle.
Well I agree with this post.
Always - How do you only show 98 posts in 5 years? hell, I bet you have more than 98 posts just being mean to me. I'm quite confused. Can that be reset?
That is kind of the point. If you found the right person that could tap that market hoops in Pullman would have a much easier time at being successful. finding that coach is probably like finding a needle in the haystack. There is something about WSU and the Seattle kids that just hasn't clicked.
Your statement is not accurate, or completely accurate. Getting Seattle kids would turn the program around. They are talented enough to win basketball games. What would be more accurate to say is that we won't get those players from Seattle that would turn the program around.
It's a bit of semantics isn't it? I think most agree Seattle is fools gold. Gonzaga is the #1 seed and was playing for a National Championship a couple years ago and still isn't tapping into Seattle for impact players or players period. It's like Gonzaga doesn't exist (nod to LC).
We have had a few but we might as well be in Siberia when it comes to Seattle kids and it seems to now even extend to the South Sounds as well.
Not "semantics". The Seattle kids WOULD help the program. It is not fools gold if you can tap into the market. But one of Seattle's favorite sons Ken Bone couldn't get a sniff. So from the stand point of "reality", no it won't happen. But to think the kids wouldn't help if we could sign them is crazy. But it may be just as crazy to think they would sign.
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I didn't read Cougfan4Life's comment as saying Seattle kids wouldn't help the program. We just aren't going to get Seattle kids other than under-the-radar (Hawkinson) or castoffs. The Elleby's that come as a true freshman are the exception to the rule.
I question any coach with "Seattle ties" thinking it's reasonable to believe they can crack Seattle for players to the point it becomes a pipeline or the backbone for any WSU men's basketball team. Hence fools gold for WSU.
I would agree with your comment it is fools gold if that becomes the basis of the programs thinking. As I have said many times that was Bones biggest or second biggest misstep in thinking the great relationships he has in the metro area was going to pay off.
Biggest misstep of the Bone era was rejecting the blue collar identity established by Bennett.
This, Seattle as a pipeline, and for whatever reason he didn't really seem to leverage the system he won with at Portland State.
He also lost the AD that hired him and I think rightfully questioned support from his boss. Moos probably wants his own hires as NU is likely seeing with Tim Miles. He's probably was looking for an excuse to make a change and Bone gave him enough.
Well...a couple of thoughts. How many NCAA tournaments has PSU been to? I believe the answer is 2. Did he try to get the kids out of Seattle? Whoever he got seemed to have won.
Even if Sterk stuck around he would have had to end up giving Bone his walking papers as well. It wasn't the right fit which was too bad.
Not sure that is on the coach. They hired the coach knowing what his style was like, a more up tempo game. It would be like hiring Buddy Ryan to follow Bill Walsh and saying Ryan made a mistake in not running Walsh' system.
And Nic Witherill, Brown, and Hartun would have struggled making a difference even in Tony's system.
Yeah, lunch pail, double-double man from Seattle was an error. Sarcasm dripping......
Seemed they relied on transfers, Oregon, and California. Phil Nelson was probably as big as any transferring from the UW. That connection dried up going to WSU. Oregon ties are even more worthless than Seattle. I remember hoping we would get more transfers to Pullman under Bone and Ladd was a good pickup and Raily was for Kent. I can't remember others and haven't understood why more don't come through WSU.
Bone deserves a lot of credit for winning at Portland State. You are correct in that who else has done anything at PSU? It simply didn't translate to WSU for whatever reason. It's obviously a bit of jump from the Big Sky. It's also speculative to say Sterk would have fired him but I don't know that Bone did anything to help Sterk's hiring track record to his boss.
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